The men's basketball team lost to Baruch College, 68-55, on Thursday night at the Doghouse. The Bloodhounds fall to 6-5 on the year and 2-2 in CUNYAC. The Bearcats improve to 9-3 and remain undefeated in conference play at 3-0. 

Senior Essien Epps led all John Jay scorers with a team-high 15 points to go along with three assists and two steals. Junior Doug Levy notched his third straight double-double, and eighth of the season, with 14 points, a game-high 16 rebounds, a team-high four assists, and a game-high six blocks. 

Senior Jerome Petty tallied nine points and sophomore Odis Gause III came off the bench to add seven points and six boards. Sophomore Eric Pujols had a season-high and game-high three steals. 

Down by three, Levy made a layup and back-to-back three-pointers by Petty gave the Bloodhounds a five-point lead. The Bearcats cut the deficit to three but Epps responded with a three with 13:35 left. 

With 7:54 on the clock, the visitors tied the score at 19-19. The next two minutes went back-and-forth as there were four lead changes. Up by one, Levy drained a three and Epps made a layup to put John Jay ahead 28-22. Baruch followed with five straight but Pujols and sophomore Romello Ford made back-to-back baskets to increase the lead back up to five. The Bearcats ended the half scoring the final three points as John Jay led 32-30. 

With the score knotted at 34 apiece, Baruch went on a 5-0 run but Levy made a layup to end the run. Five minutes in, the guests held a 47-40 advantage. A layup by Gause III with 9:11 cut the lead down to 50-48. In the next three minutes, Baruch scored six straight to go up eight. Petty followed with a three but a 7-1 run by Baruch late in the period sealed the victory. 

John Jay went 22-for-62 (35.5%) from the floor, 7-for-28 (25.0%) from behind the arc, and 4-for-14 (28.6%) from the free-throw line. 

The Bloodhounds travel to Stevenson University on Saturday, January 5, for a non-conference game at 3:00 pm.